Sports - High Schools

POSTED: Saturday, May. 30, 2009

PREP GIRLS' TENNIS: Northwest District continues doubles dominance

Anyone who liked what they saw in the doubles semifinals of last week's Class 2A Northwest District Tournament might want to make a trip to the University of Washington's Nordstrom Tennis Center on Saturday, May 30. The semifinals of the Class 2A Girls' Tennis State Championships will be a carbon copy.

The four representatives from the Northwest District all won twice on Friday, May 29, in the first day of the state tournament to set up the rematches, which this time will give the winner an opportunity to play for the 2A doubles state championship.

"Another good day for District 1 at the state tournament," Bellingham coach Steve Chronister said in a phone interview. "The other neat thing about it is all eight of them are seniors."

In one semifinal, Lynden's defending state champions Brandi Benner and Jill Toronchuk will take on South Whidbey's Victoria Comfort and Nicole Zelewski, while Bellingham's Shannon Gowan and Sarah Twiford face Squalicum's Andrea and Anne d'Aquino in the other.

No matter who wins, each match, it will mark the third straight year that the doubles final has been all-Northwest District, and if Benner and Toronchuck win it also will keep alive the string of all-Whatcom County championship matches.

Even through they're defending champs and have been to the championship match the past two years, Benner and Toronchuk had a little case of the nerves in their opening-round match against Sequim's Angela Richards and Diana Earl.

"Every time you get here, you see everybody hitting and you see the facility, and it can throw you off a little," Lynden coach Trey Ballard said in a phone interview. "It's a whole different atmosphere. And girls' tennis is such a momentum game ... I wasn't surprised to see them a little off in the first match, but I was kind of surprised it happened in the second set, rather than the first."

The Lynden duo took the first set 6-0 and then jumped ahead 4-0 in the second before dropping five straight games to fall in a 5-4 hole. Benner and Toronchuk rebounded to take the set 7-5 and advance to the quarterfinals, where they had no problems with Othello's Jadee Roylance and Jessy Schmidt in a 6-0, 6-0 victory.

"They looked like a finely-tuned machine in that second match," Ballard said. "It only took them a half hour. They had much better pace and were much more aggressive."

They now face Comfort and Zelewski, who they beat in straight sets in last week's district semifinals.

Unlike Benner and Toronchuk, Gowan and Twiford, who were making their first state tennis tournament appearance, looked on top of their game in the first match.

"I thought the really played one of their best matches in their first match," Chronister said. "It was their second match where they struggled a little.

After dispatching with Tumwater's Emma Anderson and Olivia Koelsch 6-3, 6-4 in the opening round, Yakima West Valley's Anh Phan and Dru Sanchez made things a little tougher in the quarterfinals.

"None of these kids are going to be easy wins," Chronister said. "You're talking about the best kids in the state. But Sarah and Shannon found a way to win, and now they're in the semis."

Twiford and Gowan advanced with a 6-4, 6-3 victory, and now they'll take on the d'Aquinos, who beat them in straight sets the last time they played in the district semifinals.

The Storm duo breezed through their first-round match, which was also their first action in the state tournament, beating Quincy's Colleen Knodell and Bonnie Knodell 6-0, 6-0, before following up with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Sequim's Kyla Hall and Blaire Maloney to reach the semifinals.

While all three Whatcom County entries in the doubles bracket reached the semifinals, the singles draw wasn't quite so kind.

Sehome's Chloe Tull fell 6-2, 6-2 to Chehalis W.F. West's Taylor Giske in the first round.

"She had some big-match jitters in the opening set," Sehome coach Bonna Giller said in a phone interview. "She kind of dropped like a rock, but in the second set, she really challenged her. You could tell she was starting to play more comfortable, and it was almost like she said, 'OK, yeah, I belong here. That really helped her in the second match, because she battled hard. That second one could have gone either way."

Unfortunately for Tull, it went the other way, as Washington's Kelly Sun ended her season with a 6-3, 6-7, 6-1 victory.

Bellingham's Molly Beaumont, a veteran of the doubles tournament but playing in the singles draw for the first time, also had to face Sun in the consolation bracket, but she ended up coming out on top 6-4, 6-2 to advance to Saturday.

Beaumont dropped into the consolation bracket despite an opening round 6-0, 6-0 win over Toppenish's Cintia Gil.

"She kind of ran into a buzz saw in the second round," Chronister said. "She ended up playing a high-caliber player. The first set she was in it, but the other girl just took over in the second."

Beaumont ended up falling 6-3, 6-0 to Klahowya's Traci Landram, but after her win over Sun, she can still place if she can beat fellow Eagle Maggie Becker in her first round on Saturday.

A win would also help Bellingham in its quest for a team title. The Red Raiders are currently tied for second, two points behind South Whidbey.

"Team-wise, we're pretty confident," Chronister said. "There are only three teams that can finish in front of us, and they may not. We've got a shot if we continue to play good tennis."